I thought this was supposed to be a defensive league. Week Five in the SEC saw lots of yards and points as well as a few lackluster performances from the top teams that let inferior opponents hang around too long. Let's start the rundown.
1. Georgia defense is whole again, and not so good.
Suspended defensive stars Bacarri Rambo (FS) and Alec Ogletree (LB) finally returned from suspension for the fifth-ranked Bulldogs' 51-44 win over Tennessee. I keep hearing people (like CBS's Gary Danielson) claim that Georgia's defense is as good as Alabama's and LSU's. Those people are wrong. Just because Georgia has a bunch of great-looking athletes who are big and fast doesn't mean that their defense is schematically sound. Tennessee was able to run up the middle on the Bulldogs and consistently had receivers open in the Georgia secondary. If Tyler Bray had been more accurate in a couple of spots (or had his receivers not dropped several passes, including a sure touchdown) we'd be talking about whether or not this was a signature win for Derek Dooley. Could Georgia have been looking ahead to South Carolina? Maybe so, but any defense that gives up 44 points and nearly 500 yards is not good. End of story.
2. Hugh Freeze is having a positive effect on Ole Miss.
Don't get ahead of me here - Ole Miss is not a good team yet. However, the Rebels have shown dramatic improvement since last season's 2-10 debacle. While top-ranked Alabama had the decidedly superior team in last night's 33-14 victory, Ole Miss were able to drive the ball on Alabama, take a brief lead, and compete for the entire game, something no other team has done this season. Contrast the Rebels to the hapless Arkansas Razorbacks. Who would've thought that by Week Five, Ole Miss would not only have a better record than Arkansas, but has played better. I'll be interested to see how they fare against the same Texas A&M team that just hammered the Hogs.
3. What is going on with LSU?
The Bayou Bengals performed poorly against Auburn last week, and were frankly lucky to come away with a win. Any Tigers' fans expecting that game to be a wakeup call had to be disappointed with what they saw last night with LSU's 38-22 win over Towson, an FCS school. Towson actually had a second-quarter 9-7 lead before the Tigers pulled away. LSU has dropped in the polls from number two to number four in the last two weeks and going into the showdown in Gainesville this week there are a number of question marks for this team. Can the Zach Mettenberger perform in a hostile environment against a good team defense? Can LSU play with intensity? How good are the Tigers, really? We'll know more in a week.
4. Another week, another Arkansas low.
In the wake of Texas A&M's blowout of Arkansas, I am looking over the Razorbacks schedule, and there are no gimme wins left. Even Kentucky has put up more fight than Arkansas has in their last few games. If Arkansas doesn't right the ship against Auburn next week, and I highly doubt that they can, I think it's unlikely they can finish above .500.
5. The Good.
(1) Alabama 33, Ole Miss 14
The Tide closed out the first half of its season with a number of things to work on - inconsistent run blocking, failure to finish drives with touchdowns rather than field goals, and a tendency to let off the gas once the opponent is down. However, Alabama goes into the bye week ranked number one, outscoring opponents 40-7 on average, and with a schedule that looks a lot more manageable than just a couple of weeks ago.
(6) South Carolina 38, Kentucky 17
The Gamecocks forgot for a half of football that they actually had to beat Kentucky to make next week's game against Georgia really meaningful. Credit the Wildcats for actually coming to play in what has been an abysmal season so far - they led South Carolina 17-7 at the half, before the Gamecocks scored 31 unanswered points to put them away.
Texas A&M 58, Arkansas 10
The Aggies won their first SEC game and got a little bit of redemption against the Razorbacks for last year's 42-38 come-from-behind victory. Ole Miss may actually provide a better gauge for how good this A&M team can be, as Arkansas is just horrible.
(5) Georgia 51, Tennessee 44
I struggled over whether this was a good performance or an ugly one, but the Bulldogs are 5-0 and atop the SEC East (along with Florida and South Carolina), so I'll give them the nod due to the strong offensive showing.
6. The Bad.
All the bad losses this week were to other SEC teams and Auburn didn't play.
7. The Ugly.
(3) LSU 38, Towson 22
Really? An FCS school two touchdowns behind the third-best team in the country?
Missouri 21, UCF 16
The Knights actually outgained Mizzou on offense and had 27 first downs to the Tigers' 16, but a punt return for a touchdown provided the difference in the game. Still, a win is a win, and the Tigers needed this road win to build some confidence after getting smashed last week.
8. Games to Watch in Week Six
(4) LSU at (10) Florida
I've got a sneaking suspicion that Florida might have LSU's number this year. The Gators have the best defense that LSU has seen so far this season, and at home in the Swamp, I predict that Florida will pull off the upset.
(5) Georgia at (6) South Carolina
Georgia and South Carolina have looked fantastic in some spots and mediocre in others this season, but they both come in undefeated. Carolina has the better defense, but Georgia's offense is stronger. This is a tossup in my mind, but I'm going with the Gamecocks due to the night atmosphere at Williams-Bryce, and the fact that I chose them to win the East in preseason.
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